Brazilwood (Rotholz)

Pred časom sem dobila rdečkast lesni drobir v vrečki z napisom Rotholz (Wollknoll). Nekaj dni sem ga namakala v vodi, nato odlila tekočino in pobarvala prvo štreno (na levi). Ni mi bila všeč. Nato sem se lotila bombažnega blaga. Posula sem drobir (skupaj z rabljenimi koreninami barvilnega brošča), za nekaj dni prepustila soncu, da opravi nalogo barvanja in si dala delat bluzo (na spodnjih slikah). Ni mi bilo všeč.Končno sem za nasvet povprašala na Yahoojevi skupini NaturalDyes in drobir skuhala z malo kisa. Krasni vijolični odtenki, zelo močne barve - zelo lepo! Pobarvala sem tudi nekaj bombažne prejice (obešeni sta na ovratniku bluze na spodnjih slikah), pa še nekaj česane volne. Barva menda ni preveč obstojna na svetlobi, zato je bolje, da material, barvan s tem lesom, ni na direktnem močnem soncu in tudi ne dalj časa na sončni svetlobi. Some time ago I was given some reddish wood chips saying it was Rotholz (from Wollknoll). I soaked them in tap water for a few days, poured the liquid off and dyed the first skein (from left). Didn't like it. Passed on to cotton fabric, placed the chips all over (together with used madder roots), sundyed it for a few days and had a blouse made (the pictures below). Didn't like it. Finally I asked for advice in Yahoo group NaturalDyes and boiled the chips together with some vinegar. The lovely purples, very intense, quite dark - beautiful! I also dyed some cotton yarn (placed two skeins on the collar of the blouse to show) and some carded wool. The colour is said to have only medium to poor lightfastness so direct sunlight or prolonged exposure to sun is best avoided.

Šentjanževka je carica - (2) - St. John's wort rules

Kot sem omenila v zadnji objavi, še ni bilo konec mojega ekperimentiranja s šentjanževko. Še naprej sem uporabljala isto barvilno kopel, delno do zelo izrabljeno. Barvala sem bombažno, volneno in laneno prejo. Enobarvno prejo sem dobila z barvanjem cele štrenice v kopeli, melirane pa sem dobila tako, da sem vlažno štrenico obesila nad lonec in v takočino potopila samo tretjino. Različna barvila, ki jih vsebujejo cvetki šentjanževke, so potovala novzgor po preji 24 do 48 ur in se ustavila različno visoko. Najbolj je bilo to opazno na volneni preji, kjer so nekatera mesta vijolična in zelenkasta (samo kaj ko se na sliki to ne vidi). Idejo sem dobila pri ascendentni kromatografiji - uf, kako znanstveno to zveni, mar ne! Žal pa vsi ti poskusi niso ponovljivi - preprosto povedano, iste barve lahko ponovno dobim zgolj slučajno - adijo znanstvenost :-( As I said in my last post that was not yet an end to my experimentation. Using the same, partly to very exhausted dyeing bath from St. John's wort flowers I dyed some cotton, wool and flax yarns. The solid colours were obtained by immersion dyeing while the variegated colours were obtained by suspending moist yarn over the pot, with the lower third of the skein immersed. I let the different colours climb up the moist yarn over 24 to 48 hours: they fixed at differing spots, which may be seen on the wool yarn with purplish and greenish spots (but the photo fails to show it). I was inspired by ascending chromatography - wow, this does sound scientific, doesn't it! Alas these experiments are failing in repeatability - saying in plain words, I can't obtain the same colours except by chance - very unscientific:-( Nadaljevala sem z isto delno izrabljeno barvilno kopeljo iz cvetov šentjanževke. Od leve desne si sledijo: bež bombažna prejica za vezenje, bela bombažna prejica za vezenje, bel lanen sukanec za klekljanje, bela bombažna prejica za vezenje, bela bombažna prejica za vezenje, +železova kopel, Vse so bile čimžane z galunom+pralno sodo (skupaj). bež bombažna prejica za vezenje, čimžana s taninom, bež bombažna prejica za vezenje, čimžana z galunom+pralno sodo, +železova kopel. Eksperimentiranje mi je bilo v užitek prav toliko kot sem vesela rezultatov. Vedno mi je hudo, da ne morem pokazati pravih barv: imam dobro kamero, a kaj ko so barve varljive, naravne pa še toliko bolj. Kar ne morem nehati ekperimentirati s šentjanževko. Verjetno bom septembra eksperimentirala z zrelimi rastlinami, z bunkicami s semeni in s posušenimi rožami. I went on with the same partly exhausted dyeing bath from St. John's wort flowers. From left to right they are: beige cotton yarn for stitching, white cotton yarn for stitching, white flax yarn for bobbin lace, white cotton yarn for stitching, white cotton yarn for stitching with iron afterbath, All were mordanted in alum and washing soda (together). beige cotton yarn for stitching mordanted with tanin, beige cotton yarn for stitching, mordanted in alum and washing soda, with an iron afterbath. I enjoyed the experimentation as much as I love the results. It always hurts me I can't show the real colours - the camera is a good one but the colours are tricky, and the natural colours even more so. I can hardly make myself stop experimenting with St. John's wort. I believe in September I'm going to experiment with mature plants, with seed balls and with dried material.

Šentjanževka je carica - St. John's wort rules

Spet sem nabirala cvetje šentjanževke - na maminem vrtu, ob poljskih poteh, na travnikih, v hribih, na zapuščenih zaraslih zemljiščih... Letos sem jih dobila izredno veliko in sem tudi barvala z njimi izredno veliko. Na volni sem dobila standardne barvne serije zeleno-vijolično-rjavo-zlato rumeno-limonino rumeno, z vršički s popki tik pred začetkom cvetenja pa tudi izjemno oranžne odtenke. I collected St. John's wort flowers again - in Mum's garden, along field paths, in meadows, in the mountains, in waste areas... This year I got extreme quantities and also did extremely much dyeing with it. On wool it gave the standard colour series green - violet-brown - golden yellow - lemon yellow, but also extraordinary orange hues with tops with buds just prior to blooming. Ker sem imela tako veliko materiala, sem se odločila za eksperimentiranje. Posebej sem barvala s cvetki (in popki), posebej z zeljo-listki in posebej z oskubljenimi stebli. Presenečena sem ugotovila, da barvilo vsebujejo prav vsi deli (samo korenina ne, kar sem ugotovila lani), seveda pa ga je zdaleč največ v cvetkih, skoraj nič manj v popkih, tudi zel ima precej barvila, pa celo oskubljena stebla. Kdo bi si mislil! Pa sem mislila, da so samo cvetki kaj vredni za barvanje. Na spodnji sliki je volna, barvana samo z zeljo. Realna barva je bolj v zgornjem delu slike oziroma, bolje rečeno - volna sploh ni lisasta, ampak lepo enakomerno obarvana. Since I had so much material at hand I decided to experiment. I used separately flowers (with buds), separately the green parts without stems, and separately stems without flowers or leaves. I was surprised to find out that all the parts of the plant contain the dyeing substance (with the exception of roots, hich I found out last year), flowers being the richest in it, of course. The buds are almost as rich in dye, the leaves also contain much dye, and even the bare stems have some. Who would have thought it! And I was led to believe only the flowers are worth using for dyeing. The picture below shows wool yarn dyed with green leaves only. The colour is more realistic in the upper section of the picture - or, to be more precise, the yarn is not variegated, the colour is solid. Nato sem se pogumno lotila barvanja bombažne preje za pletenje in vezenje ter bombažne in lanene prejice za klekljanje. Za to nisem nikjer dobila nobenih navodil, pa imam kar nekaj knjig o barvanju z rastlinami. Nekaj prejice za klekljanje sem barvala s šentjanževko že prejšnja leta, pa sem dobila tako različne rezultate, da nisem vedela, pri čem sem. In me je res hudo presenetila. Medtem ko na volni po navadi daje standardne barvne serije, je na bombažu in lanu povsem nepredvidljiva. Najbolj me je zanimala barva prve kopeli, ki na volni daje tako lepo zeleno. Na bombažu in lanu daje vse od zlato zelene, močne rumene, modrikasto zelene (prva slika levo), sive (druga slika desno). I was encouraged and tackled dyeing cotton yarn for knitting and stitching and cotton/linen yarn for bobbin lace. I 'd found no instructions or description although I do possess a few books on natural dyeing. I had dyed some yarn for bobbin lace in previous years only to get results that were so inconsistent that left me perplexed. I was perplexed again. While it yields standard colour sets on wool St. John's wort is quite unpredictable on cotton and linen. I was mostly interested in the first dyeing in fresh dyeing bath that gives such a lovely green on wool. And what does it give - or at least gabe me - on cotton and linen: everything from golden green, intense yellow, bluish green (first pisture left corner) and grey (secong picture right corner). Tudi barva kopeli se je letos obnašala čudno - pri eni seriji je po prvem barvanju z galunom čimžane preje kopel postala zelene barve in je taka ostala ves čas, pa sem pomakala in namakala kar precej prejic. Druga kopel, tudi prvo kuhanje samo cvetkov, pa ne !?! The colour of the dyeing bath itself also behaved in a strange way this year: in one batch it turned green after the first dyeing of alum mordanted yarn and remained green throughout the dyeing session, and believe I did dip and soak and cook many a little skein of yarn. The other byth, also obtained by the first cooking of flowers only did not shift to green !?! No, roke sem imela pa takele - ampak to nič ne boli in nič ne škodi in se v enem dnevu izmije. And my hands looked like this - I didn't mind, it doesn't hurt nor damage the skin and is washed off within one day. To še ni konec dosedanjega eksperimentiranja, ampak blog je že tako predolg, se bojim, da mi jo bo blogger kaj zagodel, zato raje objavim... This is not yet an end to my experimentation - only my writing is too long already and I'm afraid the Blogger may play a nasty trick on me so I'm posting it...

Indigo modri metuljček - Indigo blue butterfly

Končno sem se odločila, da uporabim nekaj prelepe modre volne za filcanje. Tomažu sem za 40-letnico naredila metuljčka iz dveh modrih, ki sem ju pobarvala januarja letos, pa še malo svilenih vlaken, nepobarvanih. Za metulja sem si naredila model, ker nisem želela sterilnih geometrijskih oblik. Naredila sem mu celo tipalke, da se ne izgubi... I eventually decided to use some of the beautiful blue carded wool for felting. I felted a butterfly for Tomaž's 40th birthday. I used two blues I had dyed in January this year, and some silk fibers, undyed. To make the butterfly I had drawn a template because I didn't want any sterile geometric shapes. I even provided it with tentacles so it wouldn't get lost ...

Bombažna preja, barvana z rastlinami - Cotton thread, natural dyed

Za spremembo sem barvala bombažno prejo za vezenje in za klekljanje, v barvilni kopeli in kot vrvico za prevezovanje zavitkov pri rastlinskem tiskanju. Nekaj barve je od čebulnih listov, pa od bakrene žice v kisu, svežih rabarbarinih listov, izrabljene košeniljke ... Navitje prejice se mi zdi pa tako lepo, da sem ga kar morala slikati :-) For a change, I set to dyeing cotton yarn for stitching and bobbin lace, both in dyeing baths and yarn used for tying rolls in plant printing. Some are dyed with onion skins, others with vinegar in which copper wire had been soaking, then fresh rhubarb leaves, cochineal exhaust, ... I find the coiled up yarn so beautiful that I just couldn't help taking some photos :-)

Barvanje s čebulnimi lupinami - Onion skins dyeing

Po Veliki noči, ko sem pirhe pobarvala s čebulnimi lupinami, sem v isti vodi začela barvati še volno. Posebej sem skuhala lupine rdeče in rumene čebule in preskusila, kako se čebulna barva prime na podlago z galunom, z rabarbarinimi listi in brez čimže. Dobro je samo na galun, zato sem tisto brez čimže dala v galun po barvanju (samo pri rdeči čebuli). Nato sem iste lupine skuhala še enkrat, jih pustila v vodi in barvala volno, z galunom. To je tisto ta pravo! Barve so različne in v začetku zelo močne. Pri rumeni čebuli precej manj, nekaj tudi zato, ker sem teh lupin imela precej manj. Mi je žal, da jih nisem shranila več :-( After Easter, when I had dyed my Easter eggs with onion skins, I used the dyebaths for wool dyeing. I cooked separately skins from red and yellow onions and tested onion dye for attaching on wool mordanted with alum, rhubarb leaves and unmordanted. It only attaches well on alum, so I postmordanted the yarn that hadn't been premordanted. I then cooked the same onion skins once more, left them sitting in the pot and dyed alum mordanted wool. This is it! The colours vary greatly and are pretty intense in the first dyeings. They are rather less intense with yellow onions, probably also because I only had little. It's a pity I hadn't saved more yellow onion skins:-( Na spodnjih slikah so posamezne stopnje obarvanosti. The pictures below show individual steps of colour-intake. Rdeča čebula, prvo kuhanje, prvo barvanje; čimža - galun, rabarbarini listi, galun po barvanju (od leve proti desni)

Red onions, first dye bath, first simmering; mordants: alum, rhubarb leaves, post-mordanted with alum (left to right)

Rdeča čebula, prvo kuhanje, drugo in tretje barvanje; čimža - galun

Red onions, first dye bath, second and third simmerings; mordant: alum

Rdeča čebula, drugo kuhanje, liste sem pustila v vodi; prvo, drugo in tretje barvanje, čimža - galun

Red onions,second dye bath, with skins left in the pot: first, second and third simmering: red onions, mordant: alum

Vsa volna, pobarvana z rdečo čebulo in čimžana z galunom All yarns dyed with red onion skins, mordanted with alum Rumena čebula, prvo kuhanje, prvo barvanje; čimža: brez, galun, rabarbarini listi (od leve proti desni) Yellow onions, first dye bath, first simmering; mordants: none, alum, rhubarb leaves (left to right) Rumena čebula, prvo kuhanje, drugo in tretje barvanje, čimža - galun

Yellow onions, first dye bath, second and third simmerings; mordant: alum

P.S. Opravičujem se za neurejen videz - Blogger mi ni pustil urejati črk in prilepiti fotografije. Slike so naložene tudi na http://www.flickr.com/photos/mamaladka/ I apologize for the disorderly appearance of this post - Blogger wouldn't let me format the font and paste the picture. Pictures are loaded at http://www.flickr.com/photos/mamaladka/

Veselo veliko noč! - Happy Easter!

Vstal je Kristus, upanje moje, aleluja! Vesele velikonočne praznike želim vsem obiskovalcem! Christ my hope has risen! Alleluia! Wishing a happy Easter holiday to all visitors of my blog!

Indigo

Končno sem se lotila tudi naravnega barvanja z indigom. Dobila sem ga od Alje, ki je nekoč mislila, da bo tudi barvala z rastlinami, potem se je pa usmerila bolj v filcanje in me prosila, če kaj pobarvam še zanjo. Delala sem po receptu iz knjige J. N. Liles: The Art and Craft of Natural Dyeing. Celo leto sem prebirala Lilesove recepte, pa objave na blogih Leene Riihelä, Jenny Dean in Helen Melvin, uživala v njihovih fotografijah in opisih, januarja sem se pa le lotila tega smrdljivega opravila. Rezultat je vreden napora, prav gotovo se bom barvanja z naravnim indigom še lotila. Zdaj pa na rdeče barve - barvilni brošč (Rubia tinctorum) že vabi! I finally set myself to dyeing with natural indigo I had been given by Alja - she'd intended to do some natural dyeing but then turned mostly to felting and asked me to do some indigo dyeing also for her. I proceeded according to Liles "Good Old Sig Vat" recipe no. 1. I was re-reading Liles' recipes, posts on the blogs of Leena Riihelä, Jenny Dean and Helen Melvin for one entire year, enjoying in their descriptions and pictures. In January I finally set an indigo vat (smelly, sigh). The result is well worth the effort (and nasal suffering), I'll sure make another indigo vat some day. And now for the reds - madder is calling!

Borovnice in šentjanževka - Blueberries and St. John's wort

Le kje se mudi pomlad??!! V moji vazi je takorekoč že poletje, saj borovnice ne samo zelenijo, ampak tudi že cvetijo - tile mali snežnobeli cvetki so borovnice, ki so vzcvetele v cvetličarskem šopku od začetka februarja. But where is spring lingering??!! There is summer in my vase, so to say, since the bluberries are not only leafy but already in flowers - the small snowwhite flowers are blueberries that started to bloom in a florist bouquet since beginning of February. Da laže čakam na bolj svetle, tople, sončne in barvite dni, si pomagam z lepimi volnami, pobarvanimi s cvetjem šentjanževke (sliki zgoraj in spodaj). Te barve me res razveselijo vsakič, ko jih pogledam! To make my waiting for brighter, warmer, sunnier and more colourful days easier I have recourse to my lovely wool yarns dyed with St. John's wort flowers (see the picture above and below). These colours make me happy every time I watch them!

Volnena koprena (filcana) - Wooly cobweb (felted)

Sestri sem za rojstni dan hotela narediti nekaj posebnega, pa sem se - prvič - lotila filcanja čisto tankega kosa - koprene. Naredila sem dvobarvno in še rožico s tretjo barvo, ki sem jo nato izvezla z volneno prejo v isti barvi. Darilo sem zapakirala v to kopreno kot v celofan, samo da se je koprena lepo ulegla navzdol, ker je zelo mehka. Sestri je bilo všeč darilo in embalaža, meni je koprena zelo všeč in jih bom naredila še nekaj v podobnih pastelnih barvah. I wanted to make something special for my sister's birthday so I decided on a cobweb - my first cobweb. I made it in two colours, using a third colour for the small flower that I then stitched with a wool yarn in the same colour. I packed the gift in the cobweb as if it were a sheet of cellophane only it bended downwards as it is very soft. My sister liked both the gift and the wrap, I like the cobweb very much so I'm going to make some more in similar pastel colours. Rožica - da se vidi, da je res filcana z drugo (pravzaprav s tretjo) barvo volne. Detail - the flower - to show it is really made with wool in a different colour.